In thinking of this, I came up with a lot of possibilities. But given what has transpired this season with #tradeBargnani, I'm rolling with this - final answer:

When he fired Sam Mitchell. It was that firing that has created the culture of coddling Bargnani by everyone within the organization. That decision has created a double standard and lack of accountability for Bargnani while placing coaches in a situation where their integrity is questioned based on the words they speak and the actions people see.

Pretty sure he was hired for this sole reason. Not sure it was really his decision.
And people need to stop pretending Bosh was anything near as good as Carmelo/DWill, and therefore we should have gotten a huge package back for him. We would have been lucky to get a lottery pick for him.

For me, the biggest error was the Jermaine O'Neal deal. After that 2007-2008 season, it was clear the team had plateaued and needed changes. He had Ford, a first round pick, Rasho's expiring and potentially a guy like Parker to move. He had assets available to him and he traded for a 32-year old broken down big and eviscerated the roster to do so (Wil Solomon anyone?).

That signing started the downward fall of the team and he spent the next two seasons trying to fix that mistake with the Marion deal and then the ill-fated Turkoglu signing. The team has never recovered from that 2008 season. If he had done what most fans wanted, which was use those assets to bring in an elite wing player, things may look very different today.

1) Attempting to build around a 'franchise player' who never was (and never could become) a true franchise player to be built around (ie: Bosh, Bargnani, soon to be DeRozan and likely eventually Valanciunas) --> all subsequent roster moves have been predicated on a fundamentally flawed strategy that leaves the team destined to fail.

2) Rushing the post-Bosh era rebuild, after initially starting out on the right foot --> had BC approached last season as another 'rebuilding' season (instead of rushing into 'building' mode) and then approached this season as the first 'building' season (instead of rushing into 'competing' mode), this franchise could actually be headed someplace positive (though that positive place would be limited by the fact that BC was continuing to build around Bargnani/DeRozan as illegitimate franchise cornerstones - see #1).

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

1) Attempting to build around a 'franchise player' who never was (and never could become) a true franchise player to be built around (ie: Bosh, Bargnani, soon to be DeRozan and likely eventually Valanciunas) --> all subsequent roster moves have been predicated on a fundamentally flawed strategy that leaves the team destined to fail.

See, I don't agree with this at all. Bosh, plus a player as good as Bosh would have been a 50-win team and a serious playoff contender but BC never found that guy. Even a "franchise" player like Lebron, Durant, Duncan, etc. can't win by himself. Bosh never played with another all-star in Toronto. I really dislike the Bosh bashing in Raptorland...

In thinking of this, I came up with a lot of possibilities. But given what has transpired this season with #tradeBargnani, I'm rolling with this - final answer:

When he fired Sam Mitchell. It was that firing that has created the culture of coddling Bargnani by everyone within the organization. That decision has created a double standard and lack of accountability for Bargnani while placing coaches in a situation where their integrity is questioned based on the words they speak and the actions people see.

I don't know if there is any proof of coach Mitchell having been fired because he was tough on Bargnani and held him accountable, so I don't know if it's proper to make that statement.

I don't know if there is any proof of coach Mitchell having been fired because he was tough on Bargnani and held him accountable, so I don't know if it's proper to make that statement.

It was super-obvious. Tough love, not speaking to AB throughout pre-season. It was there man. Pairing Evans with Bargs as his rebounding assistant was the last straw for me.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

It's either deciding to build around Bosh, or deciding to build around Bargnani.

Keeping in mind that we've never been able to attract a franchise player through free agency and franchise players aren't players that can be easily traded for what could he have done? It's a making lemonade out of lemons situation.

Ofcourse, he could have tanked to try and get some high draft picks, and hopefully landed a true franchise player, but you know as he likes to say, tanking is not in his DNA.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

Turk was the prize free-agent that year. And we had money to spend. And we needed a SF. And EVERYONE was excited about the signing ... until Turk shit the bed. Hindsight is great, isn't it?

And as for 'Not moving Bosh earlier', I'll repeat myself .. I think what people expected to get back for Bosh is FAR more than what was actually possible. Because he wouldn't commit to staying, teams knew they had a chance to get him for nothing; but because he didn't commit to leaving, teams wouldn't risk trading for him, only to have him leave at the end of the season.

Turk was the prize free-agent that year. And we had money to spend. And we needed a SF. And EVERYONE was excited about the signing ... until Turk shit the bed. Hindsight is great, isn't it?

Oh, stop with the hindsight nonsense.... If you can't use hindsight you can never evaluate anyone. Plus, there were plenty of us who thought the Turkoglu signing was stupid. The Orlando GM and SVG were telling everyone the guy was lazy and didn't care and that Portland dodged a bullet. None of that was hindsight.